The Friendly Fiat Project

So I’ve been thinking, there may be a little more to the boat, bus and a motorcycle wave campaigns’ successes… Visibility is key.

Boaters and motorcyclers are at a clear advantage being in an open air vehicle. This alows others to see their entire body language, not simply their waving hand.

Boaters have it easiest of all. Due to the breadth of their wave receipiants, all boaters, the waver is not encumbered by having to identify appropriate recipients amongst oncoming traffic. And let’s face it, cottage country boat traffic isn’t exactly heavy.

Motorcyclists may find themselves in the same regular heavy traffic that the rest of us do, however they are at an auditory, as well as ocular, advantage. They cannot only hear each other bikes coming (due to muffler size their engines are often louder then car engines), they are an obvious visual change in the mundane landscape of automobiles.

Bus drivers have the upper hand, or eye quite literally. They are phisically above regular traffic. Other then large trucks, they are the only other drivers on the road that are at their eye level. Not to mention they travel at a very specific time of day for the most part, Monday thRough Friday, before and after scol.

Now for my advantages:

– convertible roof ✔️

– summer weather ✔️

– positive attitude ✔️

– strong biceps ✔️

And a dash of wackiness 😜

Number of Fiats Waved at : 3

Number of Fiats Waved back : 0

Ok, so maybe cottage country wasn’t the ideal location for Day 1 of The Friendly Fiat Project.

Back to the city tomorrow. Waving hand ready!

Number of Fiats waved at: 1

Number of Fiats waved back:0

When I was young my family cottaged up in the Kwartha’s. I always loved the age old practice of boaters waving to each other, just because “Hey, we’re out on the water, and life is good”. My cousins and I would seldom let a boat pass without an enthusiastic salutation from aboard The Blue Jay (that was the name of our boat).

Back on land I noticed my school bus drivers did the same thing. There was always a wave shared when we passed another bus on those city streets as they trucked us to and from academia, but it was different from the boat somehow.  The wave was usually a casual, blink and you would miss it, twist of the wrist partnered with an empathetic nob. And Why didn’t us passengers join in, excitedly waving at our young bus riding counterparts? I most certainly had more in common with them then the retired couple on their pontoon from the summer.

My father rides a motorcycle, he would be miffed if I didn’t mention that it’s a Harley. This is another subculture rich in waves. I won’t even began to dive into the intricacies the biker wave, that is a project in it’s self.

So, onto The Friendly Fiat Project. Since getting my Fifi (that’s my Fiat 500C’s name) this fall I have been overcome with a feeling of comradery with my fellow Fiat drivers (not to mention the attention she draws from drivers of other brands). I have resisted the wave, and tried to be satisfied willing them to see my smile from the opposite lane. This summer, with the top down that “Hey… life is good” feeling has just become too much. I waved at my first fellow Fiat today, and now there’s no looking back.

Number of Fiat’s Waved at: 1

Number of Fiats Waved Back: 0